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Hunting Pre-Pinned Public Land

DelaWhere_Arrow

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Messages
2,595
Location
Delaware
I have the opportunity to participate in a management hunt starting Monday morning. The land is public, and very close to home. The deer herd is about 20:1 what the land can support in this area (probably not that high really, but that’s actually not a terrible estimate), and the DNR wants deer dead. Like, lots of deer dead. SO...
The only downside to this tract is that you absolutely have to hunt within pre-marked zones that are about 50-70 diametric yards. These “pins” are first-come reserve, and I can hunt different ones in a day as long as I come back to the main Pin board and indicate my new location. The pins are placed in various terrain types, but are generally close to nighttime roadside bedding or wooded edges of general-use areas such as picnic and sporting fields. A few are in the timber where soft edges are formed by terrain and browse.
Even though I know there are more deer present than any other public land I hunt, I am having trouble narrowing down the best stand locations for next week. Wind is almost impossible to judge in the timbered sites unless they are close enough to the road or a hiking trail in this heavy-use (hikers and such) tract. We’re expecting 60ish degrees and sporadic rainfall, so a “cold front” for this time of year.
Any ideas on what types of locations y’all would try to hit first, and whether you’d do morning or evening at them?
 
If it hasn’t been hunted in a long time, just about any place will be good for the first hunt. Pick the one with the easiest drag to your vehicle. I would recommend sitting and hunting at the moment it is open.

Get in and get some doe in the first shot. After that, it will get progressively more difficult.

Good luck.
 
If it hasn’t been hunted in a long time, just about any place will be good for the first hunt. Pick the one with the easiest drag to your vehicle. I would recommend sitting and hunting at the moment it is open.

Get in and get some doe in the first shot. After that, it will get progressively more difficult.

Good luck.
Great advice! It has not been hunted much in any given year, and this year it’s open for a better season because it hasn’t been hunted nearly enough. I do have a landowner across the road from 3 pinned locations who has given me permission to park at his cabin. He is maximum 400 yards from any one of those 3 pins. I also figured, like you say, that the first day would be best, and I plan to be in a tree by 6am or earlier so the first hikers and bikers of the day can bump some deer around. I found a couple of scrapes and beds and a creek crossing near one of the three pins I mentioned, and some really good mixed mast and elevation changes near another.
 
5AD5DC43-E5A8-47C9-BE78-A6C82A0B2EFE.pngHanging about 40 yards from a hiking trail. No deer yet, but there was a lot 2 hours before light. One hiker and one jogger so far. We’ll see...
 
Keep in mind that deer in these kinds of areas are accustomed to human activity and may not be as initially spooky as others. The conservation area behind my house is a no discharge zone period. The deer in there are thick, and there are hikers & bikers galore. I can hike in there and virtually guarantee a close deer sighting. My point is that these deer probably won't get bent out of shape over the hikers and activity.
 
Keep in mind that deer in these kinds of areas are accustomed to human activity and may not be as initially spooky as others. The conservation area behind my house is a no discharge zone period. The deer in there are thick, and there are hikers & bikers galore. I can hike in there and virtually guarantee a close deer sighting. My point is that these deer probably won't get bent out of shape over the hikers and activity.
That’s what I’m banking on. I had an encounter with a doe the other day here, she let me get to 8 yards before trotting casually away. Hoping the road and hikers push the deer around some by lunchtime.
 
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My point is that these deer probably won't get bent out of shape over the hikers and activity.
Okay, so I had 4 deer come in last night and they didn’t hardly care when a pair of hikers came in. I was watching the deer for about 10 minutes and thought I would have a shot parallel to the trail when two girls and a dog came giggling up the trail. The deer snorted once, trotted a few yards deeper into the brush, and stuck around while the hikers had no clue ANY of us were there. Wouldn’t you know that those hikers actually put my shot opportunity from 1:00 in their general direction (obviously I wouldn’t shoot near them), to a perfect 10:00 strong-side draw. Didn’t get the shot I wanted because they never really stopped long enough to settle the pin. The hikers sent the deer out of my life a minute or so later, but the deer were downright CHILL in their presence, and paid me zero attention.
 
Okay, so I had 4 deer come in last night and they didn’t hardly care when a pair of hikers came in. I was watching the deer for about 10 minutes and thought I would have a shot parallel to the trail when two girls and a dog came giggling up the trail. The deer snorted once, trotted a few yards deeper into the brush, and stuck around while the hikers had no clue ANY of us were there. Wouldn’t you know that those hikers actually put my shot opportunity from 1:00 in their general direction (obviously I wouldn’t shoot near them), to a perfect 10:00 strong-side draw. Didn’t get the shot I wanted because they never really stopped long enough to settle the pin. The hikers sent the deer out of my life a minute or so later, but the deer were downright CHILL in their presence, and paid me zero attention.

That is awesome. Keep us posted on this.
 
I would LOVE to hunt deer in relaxed conditions like that at some point.
It’s weird lol. Most of the land I hunt is super pressured, and the deer act right on par for that kind of stress. These deer were like, “oh it’s just our homies the humans again. And look at the cute dog.” A large part of me felt cheated on all those years of skittish-ass deer that spooked from the sound of the wind.
 
One of best spots I have is right next to parking lot for a popular hiking trail to see waterfall the deer actually stand and watch the cars and people go by once coast is clear they walk on over killed lots big bucks over the years in this spot
 
One of best spots I have is right next to parking lot for a popular hiking trail to see waterfall the deer actually stand and watch the cars and people go by once coast is clear they walk on over killed lots big bucks over the years in this spot
Is it a set spot? In other words, do you have to hunt within a certain radius? Doesn’t really matter as the principal is the same, but I was curious if the deer recognized the perimeter as dangerous. I guess not if you’re still able to milk the spot lol.
In the piece I’m hunting you have to set within a “pre-pinned” marked radius, but can shoot outside it if needed. Those areas are anywhere from 25 sq. yds to 50 sq. yds.
I’m guessing around mid-November the deer might start recognizing certain perimeters as dangerous, but maybe not if all the non-hunting human activity is only going to increase (which it will as the poison ivy and ticks subside).
 
Yup. It’s crazy how used to people deer get if they’re constantly around them. I used to live at an apartment complex in the city that had a smallish piece of woods behind it with neighborhoods all around. There were GIANT bucks in there. I’ve got a bunch of pix of them all watching me within 50 yards of them and them barely caring. I actually have one with my dog in front of me barking like crazy about 15-20 yards away from a decent buck and he didn’t act like he cared to move anywhere. I tried to get permission but had no luck. Sigh.. did collect a rack from one of the most common visitors that got hit by a car one winter


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Speaking of relaxed deer...
I was working in a customer's vacant house on the island of Grosse Ile in Michigan. There is no hunting permitted on the island. Every day for a week, there was a doe and two fawns hanging out in the 20 yard wide strip between the house and woods. One day I walked out and got to about 10' from the doe, snapping pictures with my phone. If I took one step closer, she would start to ease back, and flag the little ones to move deeper into the woods.
So about a week or so later, I come around the corner from the hallway into the bedroom to look out the patio door for my new friend... And as my eyes see her, they quickly look past her to see a huge 10 point bedded! I was on the phone with the owner at the time and yelled " holy crap, there's a huge buck right behind your house!!"... He's all like "yeah, there out there all the time" .
So, anyway, I decided to see if he wanted to be friends, too... Um, no! He looked at her like "hey, what gives", then stood up to leave. It was then I noticed he was a 3 legged buck! Back leg missing just below the hip.
Super cool experience!
 
Speaking of relaxed deer...
I was working in a customer's vacant house on the island of Grosse Ile in Michigan. There is no hunting permitted on the island. Every day for a week, there was a doe and two fawns hanging out in the 20 yard wide strip between the house and woods. One day I walked out and got to about 10' from the doe, snapping pictures with my phone. If I took one step closer, she would start to ease back, and flag the little ones to move deeper into the woods.
So about a week or so later, I come around the corner from the hallway into the bedroom to look out the patio door for my new friend... And as my eyes see her, they quickly look past her to see a huge 10 point bedded! I was on the phone with the owner at the time and yelled " holy crap, there's a huge buck right behind your house!!"... He's all like "yeah, there out there all the time" .
So, anyway, I decided to see if he wanted to be friends, too... Um, no! He looked at her like "hey, what gives", then stood up to leave. It was then I noticed he was a 3 legged buck! Back leg missing just below the hip.
Super cool experience!
Can’t make that crap up.
 
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